Four Must-Try Icelandic Desserts

Introduction

After six years of living in NYC, we finally invested in an expensive puffer down coat…and it hasn’t snowed even once this winter!! :O Since we are not having a real winter here in NYC, let’s take a trip back to when we were getting chilly in Iceland a few months ago! In this travel dessert guide, we round up four Icelandic desserts that you should look out for when visiting Iceland. And if you are in need of a ready-made itinerary to inspire you to get over here, we have one too, see here!

Rye Bread Ice Cream

Dessert destination: Cafe Loki, opposite the Hallgrímskirkja Church, Reykjavik.
Budget: $-$$.
Short and sweet story: We have taste-tested some very weird ice cream flavours before – french fries, anyone? And when we heard that one of Iceland’s signature desserts was “Rye Bread Ice Cream,” we were intrigued. What does it taste like? Slightly savoury, earthy, salty, buttery all at once. It’s very curious, indeed. We recommend ordering a hearty bowl of lamb soup beforehand too.

Kleina

Dessert destination: Various bakeries
Budget: $.
Short and sweet story: Having criss-crossed the world, we have observed that fried dough is a dessert that appears in almost every culture. Whether American-style with a hole in the middle, as a ball or a stick form, dusted in sugar, honey, cinnamon and other powders, stuffed with mochi — fried dough is a dessert with truly universal appeal. The Icelandic version is a long diamond-shaped creation, and is especially a great wake-me-up proposition with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Skyr Cheesecake

Dessert destination: Various restaurants.
Budget: $-$$.
Short and sweet story: Skyr is a well-known yogurt brand from Iceland. Many traditional Icelandic restaurants spin it into an ultra-creamy cheesecake. Its rich and heavy texture is perfectly offset by a scattering of berries.

Cinnamon Buns

Dessert destination: Various bakeries, but especially Brau & Co, Sandholt, and Deig in Reykjavik.
Budget: $.
Short and sweet story: The most memorable desserts that we had in Iceland were probably the country’s cinnamon buns. For such a small city, Reykjavik is home to quite a number of fabulous cinnamon bun purveyors! For when you want to breathe in cinnamon in the air, head to Brau & Co, and grab a bag of these warm baked goodies. Whereas Brau lacks a sit-down space, Sandholt has a lovely cafe area for unwinding after a long day of sightseeing, and is also great for more than just cinnamon buns. But the award has to go to Deig for the plumpest cinnamon buns in the city, lushly draped in swirls of caramel.